Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchA Shakeup Is Coming for the Nation-State: A Conversation with Stephen Sims
Episode 1797
Stephen Sims’ New Atlantis essay examines how emerging technologies are reshaping the structure and authority of the modern nation-state. He argues t…
6 months, 1 week ago
Oil and Militancy in Nigeria: A Conversation with Noo Saro-Wiwa
Episode 1796
Noo Saro-Wiwa is an author and journalist. Born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and raised in England, she attended King's College London and Columbia Uni…
6 months, 1 week ago
Roland Betancourt, "Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth" (Princeton UP, 2026)
Episode 422
When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, it demystified the hidden world of factory automation through its extraordinary new attractions. In Dis…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
The Crisis of American Political Economy: On the New Conservative Policy Agenda with Chris Griswold
Episode 1794
In this sixth episode of Season 5, I interview Mr. Chris Griswold. An alum of Wheaton College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he was formerly a s…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Jim Downs, "Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine" (Harvard UP, 2023)
Episode 1793
Jim Downs’ most recent book is Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine. Professor Downs is the Gilder Lehrman-Nati…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Eileen G'Sell, "Lipstick" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Episode 1792
From Revlon to Glossier, from Marilyn to Gaga, lipstick is as shape-shifting and unwieldy as femininity itself.
Who wears lipstick today – as a matter…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Miranda Banks and Kate Fortmueller, "Boom to Bust: How Streaming Broke Hollywood Workers" (U California Press, 2026)
Episode 1791
Boom to Bust is a timely investigation into the rise of Peak TV and the perfect storm that caused a rapid decline in Hollywood work.
When Hollywood w…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Emely Rumble, "Bibliotherapy in The Bronx" (Row House, 2025)
Episode 1790
Bibliotherapy in The Bronx (Row House, 2025) by Emely Rumble, LCSW, is a groundbreaking exploration of the healing power of literature in the lives o…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Lewis Sage-Passant, "Beyond States and Spies: The Security Intelligence Services of the Private Sector" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)
Episode 1789
Scholars have long viewed intelligence as the preserve of nation states. Where the term ‘private sector intelligence’ is used, the focus has been ove…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
Alisa Kessel, "Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence of Sexual Violence" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Episode 1788
Political theorist Alisa Kessel (University of Puget Sound) has an important and impressive new book, Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistenc…
6 months, 3 weeks ago